Nuns, guns and nursing : an Anglican sisterhood and imperial wars in South Africa 1879-1902

Abstract:

The Community of St Michael and All Angels, an Anglican
religious community of women, was established in
Bloemfontein the Orange Free State in 1874. The
sisterhood was established firstly in the context of the midnineteenth
century catholic revival within Anglicanism, and
secondly in the context of changing roles for women which
saw their increased engagement in public philanthropy.
This article focuses on the work of sisters and associates
of the community as military nurses in the Anglo-Zulu war
of 1879, the Transvaal war of 1880-1881 and the South
African war of 1899-1902, and examines the extent to
which community life allowed the sisters a degree of
independence within a patriarchal church; analyses
women’s role in the colonial and imperial enterprise in
southern Africa; and explores the extent to which the
sisters’ role as military nurses contributed to increased
official and public recognition of a professional role for
women.

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